Many countries all over the world are currently enforcing some degree of social distancing as the number one tool to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this mandate, many companies are requiring all non-essential personnel to work from home in an effort to implement social distancing at work and to help battle the spread of the coronavirus.
While working from home requires a huge degree of adjustment in terms of logistics, technology, and work discipline in many industries, this situation is not exactly new for language service providers (translators, interpreters, and voice-over talents). Because we are providing our services primarily from our home offices anyway, we can adjust comparatively easy to the new conditions.
In that regards, I’m very grateful to be working in a field where I have all the tools I need in order to continue to provide services available in my office. With a few minor exceptions, not much has changed for me since the outbreak of the pandemic:
Translation
Translation services will continue as usual, since practically all translation assignments take place in the comfort of my home anyway. I do miss personal meetings with current clients and prospects. However, communication via email, telephone, and video conference helps cherish current and future professional relationships.
Interpreting
I enjoy in-person interpreting assignments and the personal interactions that come with it. But this personal touch is not possible at the moment. Luckily, new technology has made it possible to provide this service from home also. In addition to special equipment for video remote interpreting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_remote_interpreting), most assignments can be handled via traditional video conference means, such as Skype or Zoom.
Voice-over
Because I have my own voice-over studio, I can continue to deliver top-quality recordings for most applications.